OHL Erie Otters

Otters' Home Stand Ends

Published on January 22, 2004 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Erie Otters News Release


The ERIE OTTERS of the Ontario Hockey League will complete a four-game home stand this weekend when they welcome the Windsor Spitfires and Kitchener Rangers Friday and Saturday at the Tullio Arena.

The OTTERS are coming off a weekend in which they captured a pair of home games to extend their home-winning streak to five games and their home-unbeaten streak to seven games (6-0-1). ERIE is 21-17-5-1 overall and stand seventh in the Western Conference only one point behind the Owen Sound Attack with two games in hand.

Josh Disher paced the OTTERS in the weekend wins allowing just a single goal in the two games. On Friday against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds the rookie made 23 saves for his fifth shutout of the season (and third consecutive on home ice) in a 5-0 win. Saturday Disher saw the second longest home shutout streak in franchise history end at 246:50 but recorded his 18th win of the season in a 2-1 victory over the Saginaw Spirit. Heading into weekend action, the 18 year-old is among the OHL leaders in almost every goaltending statistic. He is first in shutouts (5), second in appearances (40) and minutes played (2241), fourth in wins (18), ninth in goals against average (2.78), tied for 12th in save percentage (.906).

Friday at 7:30 p.m. the Windsor Spitfires arrive at the Tullio Arena riding a three-game winning streak. The Spitfires are 19-19-2-5 on the season and stand only three points behind the OTTERS in the Western Conference standings.

Overage forward Rob Hennigar is Windsor's leading scorer with 24 goals and 31 assists for 55 points in 45 games to rank 10th in the OHL while fellow overager Craig Kennedy is second with 18 goals and 42 points.

Saturday the OTTERS welcome the Kitchener Rangers to the Tullio Arena for a 7:30 p.m. contest presented by Molson. The Rangers continue to rank among the OHL-elite with a record of 24-13-6-1, good enough for fourth in the Western Conference Standings. The game will mark the fifth in the eight-game season series between the two teams. Kitchener holds a 3-0-1 advantage and is riding a 13-game unbeaten streak (12-0-1 with an overtime win) against the OTTERS dating back to March 2002.

Defenseman Andre Benoit is the Rangers' leading scorer with 20 goals and 57 points in 41 games. The Rangers feature nine players on their roster with 10 or more goals, the most in the OHL.

Tickets for both games are available at all Erie-area TicketMaster locations as well as the Erie Civic Center Box Office. The games can also be heard live on SportsRadio 1330 the FAN and at www.ottershockey.com (presented by the James H. Cross Company) beginning with pre-game show at 7:15 p.m.

The OTTERS wrap up the weekend Sunday when they travel to London to take on the League-leading Knights (33-8-1-2). London heads into the weekend in the midst of a three-game winning streak and has lost just once in their last 13 games.

The game can be heard live on SportsRadio 1330 the FAN and at www.ottershockey.com (presented by the James H. Cross Company) beginning with pre-game show at 5:45 p.m.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 22, 2004


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